Tsinghua's capacity, my beauty.

(Published in People's Daily 202 1.3.3 1. Published abridged, entitled "Huarong Road and Water")

In early autumn, the morning light diluted a little hot air, and we went out early. Cousin with a full dowry, I followed, as happy as he is.

In two days, my neighbor Raj will be his bride.

From my hometown Xilaihe, along the Da Nei River embankment, to my aunt Zhu Zikai's home, there are dozens of miles. I was about five or six years old then. As a country child who has never been far away, it is natural for me to hold a wedding reception at the bustling pier for a few days. At first, I was jumping and relaxing, but I haven't arrived at Beijing Port yet, and my legs and feet are sore and I don't walk a step. Cousin had no choice but to stop on the road and let me soak my feet in the river. My cousin told me that the water here comes from the Yangtze River, and the water from the Yangtze River comes from the sky and flows to Dongting Lake. It's amazing, a refreshing breath suddenly spread all over the body and went straight into the heart, as if a clean stream had been injected into the heart. We walked for a while and soaked our feet for a while, but we arrived at my aunt's house before dusk.

Over the years, that river has often appeared in front of me, clear and pleasant, flowing forever. I don't know when it became the "activated water" in my life.

Located in the hinterland of Dongting Lake, this water town is called Huarong. The beauty of water, like a metaphor of sparkling Dongting Lake, comes from the magnificence of the Yangtze River and the misty rain in ancient times. In "Nine Sighs", Qu Yuan released his horse to Dongting Beach, climbed the Moshan Mountain, looked like a shadow, covered with lotus leaves, lush reeds, and sighed at the green water of Yunshan Mountain. The image of Chu Ci left by Liu Xiang more than two thousand years ago is still consistent with the scene of Huarong and Dongting Lake today. Huarong has not only the torrent of great rivers and lakes, but also the exquisite scenery and customs dotted with lakes and ports. It combines rigidity and softness, just like a pair of twin brothers and sisters, or makes touching ripples in the blue waves, or gains endless majestic vitality in the surging waves.

If you are close to these waters, you will know Huarong.

Growing up in a water town, playing with water is a compulsory course. In hot summer, sometimes I walk and see the water near my eyes, so I plop and dive into the water. That kind of cool is really indescribable. Most people in my hometown are good at water. As soon as children learn to walk, they like to soak in small harbors and ponds. Swimming doesn't pay attention to posture, it is faster than anyone who swims and treads on water for a long time, and it is higher than the height of the body above the water. When the water grows, invite three or five companions to swim in the rivers and lakes. At the water's edge, pat the water first, then the neck, and finally the chest to get into the water calmly. This kind of "three beats" is similar to some kind of ceremony, which can not only make swimmers adapt to the water temperature, but also remind them to be in awe of Shui Xin. Adults always do this, and children follow suit, which is also a special way of dialogue between us and Jianghu.

Huarong Taoist speaks like a trickle of water, with the rhyme of flowing water. At dusk, if Niang steamed hot dumplings and stood in the sunset shouting "Auntie, come back for seven meals", no matter how stubborn childlike innocence, it would melt in the warm twilight of the lotus pond. Huarong dialect belongs to the northern language family, and some pronunciations have strong Jingchu characteristics. Huarong dialect, "The sound is in Xiangying and the sound is in Chu", retains the characteristics of short and light entering tone pronunciation in ancient Chinese, and its pronunciation is rich and soft. The migration and integration of the languages in the lake area has made Huarong dialect have the charm of "soft language of Wu Nong", and there seems to be a sound of water between jokes, which sounds good.

Xiushui always moistens a woman's spirit. The "Gu Er" of Huarong Road has many gentle and beautiful qualities unique to Jiangnan women. Hubei young man separated by a water, if he can marry Huarong girl, will be praised and envied by the villagers.

I often think of menstruation, and she loves to sing drums all her life. Menstruation is the goddess in my heart. Although she was pockmarked with smallpox, she has a simple and elegant voice and a heart as soft as a grass. When I was a child, menstruation liked to take me to take a bath in Qingshui River behind my house. I remember that there are clusters of green wild celery and Artemisia selengensis beside the water, which exude a faint fragrance. Fish in twos and threes seem to be not afraid of people, swimming around leisurely, and people can't help but reach out and catch them. The river is clear and bright, so it's a little sweet to take a few sips with your hands. While gently scrubbing me during my menstrual period, she told me the story of Shi Huansha, and sang in an ancient tone: "The surging water is crystal clear, and I can stand on the tassel; The water in the rough waves is turbid, so you can lick my feet. " I was immersed in her gentle "Shuidiao Tou", and vaguely felt that I was the dashing teenager wearing a gorgeous hat and tassels on the top of the Chu State, standing in the rice field with several beautiful girls like rice seedlings. At that moment, I seemed to smell the fragrance of rice flowers and peas floating in the water town of Chu. ...

In Zeguo, a water town with lakes on the river, Chu culture, like the smart water of life, permeates everyone's heart. Children are hydrophilic, and adults know water. Huarong people in love the water listen to the secret language of water, follow the footsteps of Chu people, and find their true self in the world of water. The texture and temperament of water permeate every cell.

Huarong people who choose water to live take water as their teacher, regard "tolerance is the greatest" and "water is the best" as their philosophy of life, and "do good in all things without contending", and are generous and tolerant without exclusion. Where there are rivers and lakes, people gather. Whether it was the great famine in the 1960s, the war-torn years, or even more distant times, many foreigners migrated to Huarong, found a lake, built a hut and took root firmly. "Strangers" soon became "fellow villagers", and they planted willows in Huarong, with lush foliage. "A wisp of smoke in the kitchen is a wisp of lakeside households, and a thousand water boats are made of willows". My grandfather told me that this is a couplet written by my ancestors after they moved from Jiangxi to Huarong. They crossed Hengshan Mountain, drifted the Xiangjiang River, crossed Dongting, fought in the south and fought in the north, and finally reached the long-awaited land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River. A small couplet, I saw the poetic life of Huxiang, and felt gratified and moved by this "foreigner" who moved to Huarong and was warmly accepted.

Huarong people, who are as hard and soft as water, have gained a reputation as "Jews in Dongting Lake Area", while self-confident Huarong people like to call themselves Laozi. "Laozi just refuses to accept Zhou" is the mantra of Huarong Taoist. "Laozi" originated from the reverence for Taoism, and "disobedience to Zhou" originated from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties and the Warring States Period. Zhou and Chu became enemies for hundreds of years, but Chu refused to accept Zhou and eventually became a superpower of that era. Huarong has been flooded since ancient times, and its homes have been washed away by floods again and again. Huarong Taoist people inherited Chu's legacy, refused to accept Zhou, refused to admit defeat, rebuilt dams and rebuilt their homes again and again, and rekindled the hope of life. The comprehensive dike is an island floating in the Yangtze River for thousands of years. Once I went to collect wind, and as soon as the boat docked, I saw an old man over the age of ancient times, sitting alone by the river in the sun. More than 20 years ago, the great flood destroyed the levee, integrated the resettlement of the levee, and the township system was abolished. Overnight, the island became prosperous and desolate. The old man told us that his son worked and settled in other places, so he lived alone in the old house. No matter how big the flood is, he can't leave this integration. When he died, he was buried in his ancestral grave by the river. He kept looking at the flood in the distance, and his tone was gentle, as if he were talking about other people's business. In the Yingliu Comprehensive Dike, Huarong people fought with the Yangtze River for land and the flood for thousands of years. Home turmoil in the flood, insist on or take the initiative to evacuate, is "not satisfied for a week" Huarong people have to bear the pain.

I think that the love and hate, noise and loneliness, joy and pain of Huarong Taoist people's life from generation to generation are all born of water and intertwined with water.

Huarong Road, far away from rivers and lakes, has its own optimism and value orientation. In Yang Yao's hometown, Hanshou in Dongting Lake area, Yang Yao is regarded as the leader of the peasant uprising army, and his heroic deeds are widely circulated among the people. Praise Yang and belittle Yue. Yue Fei, who is loyal to the liver and righteous, has a good reputation in Huarong Road, or is sacrificed in a temple or statue in the square. According to local records, Yue Fei, who was not good at water warfare, was invincible for a long time. Finally, with the help of Huarong Taoist who is good at water, he defeated Yang Yao in one fell swoop. Huarong's profound "Yue Fei Complex" is also reflected in flag planting, military exercises, Yuecheng Temple, Mucheng Temple, Matizhou and many other place names. My hometown and Cao Jun township are separated by a levee, and the ancient Cao Jun field where Yue Fei trained the water army is next to the ouchi river bank. The embankment slope is gentle and extends to the flat dam in the embankment, forming a unique small grassland. When I was a child, I often went to the parade ground to watch the excitement. On the one hand, there is a raging river, and on the other hand, there is a parade ground full of red flags and crowds. Ten thousand people's congress or pledge of flood control and flood fighting, or winter water conservancy mobilization, or criminal trial, are all huge and passionate. The big scenes I saw in the military field at that time provided me with the most direct picture feeling, and also provided me with the richest association in reading Yue Fei's "Man Jiang Hong" in the future.

Huarong once owned the largest wetland in the south of the Yangtze River, with lakes in summer and autumn, retreating in winter and spring, and endless beaches covered with green grass. It is a paradise for waiting birds and a pure land on earth given by God. In the late 1950s, some policy makers proposed to separate this wild wetland from Huarong and turn it into Qianlianghu Farm. At the command, Huarong Road obeyed unconditionally, and hundreds of thousands of young and strong laborers took their own baskets and shovels and braved the wind and snow to attend the meeting around the lake. The organizational system of Liangqian Lake has been adjusted several times, and now it has become a town under the jurisdiction of Junshan District. Reclaiming land around the lake caused the lake to shrink sharply, and every flood season, the flood became uncontrollable. I often feel deeply moved when I see the flood fighting and rescue teams coming and going by the Liang Qian Lake.

Running water never returns for a thousand years. In the torrent of history, everyone is trapped by a specific era, clinging to the Huarong Taoist in the rivers and lakes, or enjoying it, or unconsciously unaware of it. It is difficult to comment on whether Yue Fei fought in Yangmao, whether he leveled the embankment and flooded, and whether he reclaimed the sea around the lake. In my opinion, the history created by human beings originated from the gestation of rivers and lakes, and through long and profound accumulation, it moved from a natural state to humanistic aesthetics.

The vast, inclusive and nourishing Yangtze River and Dongting Lake have written magical civilization codes on this land, which have given birth to unique humanity, spiritual temperament and beliefs. Due to the repeated looting of floods, there are not many well-preserved cultural relics in Huarong, but it has opened a ray of civilization in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and preserved a shining human imprint. When I was young, I used to live at the foot of the Yellow Lake, adjacent to Zhanghuatai, which is known as "the first station in Chu". I once left the palace in high spirits, leaving only two layers of earthen terraces and lush grass, which were reflected in the crystal clear shadow of the Yellow Lake, just like my leisure. At Qixingdun, a Neolithic city site, I went boating on Dajing Lake, traveled through time and space, and gazed affectionately at Huarong ancestors. In autumn, I followed Dayu's footsteps in water control and boarded Yushan Mountain, and the scene of Dongting's flooded wasteland disappeared. "Yu Temple is wrapped in an empty mountain, and the autumn wind is slanting." Du Fu's Millennium sigh is especially in his ear. I heard the pounding of hooves on Huarong Road. In the burning sunset, Guan Yu's red rabbit came from the wind at the head of Chibi pond and left. Fan Li, a celebrity, lives in seclusion by Tianjia Lake. Now I am very happy to see that he turned into a white marble statue and lived quietly in the streets of Changhua in another way, witnessing the changes of Chu and the prosperity of modern times.

The history of Huarong Road is written in water, flowing leisurely between boats and capsized boats in rivers, lakes and seas, and projected in the shadow of sailing alone, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In the dialogue with water, Huarong people and water confirm and interpret each other, and * * * play the music of life together. For Huarong Road, water is as inseparable as spiritual blood.

After leaving Huarong for many years, I am still a wading child in my hometown. In the warm womb of my hometown, the amniotic fluid of those lives has been talking to me, nourishing me, dyeing me, making me breathe happily and freely like a fish, and bringing my hometown made of water into my heart. How many times in my dreams, the sound of oars is still clear, the blue of Dongting Lake has been deeply embedded in my heart, and the vibrant Yangtze River blood vessels flow confidently in my body.

The rivers and lakes are bright, and Tsinghua is everywhere.